


Darcy Lewis: Emergency Petsitter

by Archetype_ElectraHeart



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy just wanted some baked goods, F/M, Indignant Puppy Steve, Steve gets turned into a puppy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-07-29 05:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7671931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archetype_ElectraHeart/pseuds/Archetype_ElectraHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki turns Steve into a very small puppy in the midst of battle. Lucky for him, Darcy was in search of cronuts when the battle broke out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this first chapter is identical to the drabble that I posted in my collection of tumblr ficlets, but it is necessary to understand the following chapter

The entire day had been a disaster.

And that was before Loki had shown up.

 

“While I appreciate your enthusiasm, Captain, I’m afraid I cannot afford to allow you to continue getting underfoot.” Loki clucked as Steve raised his shield defensively. “That’s not going to be of much help to you in a moment.”

And then Steve was surrounded by a sickly green light and he felt almost as though his veins were filled with soda, popping and fizzing and sloshing around.

When the light finally dissipated, Steve’s perspective was a lot closer to the ground, his shield was on the pavement next to him and a lot larger than he was used to, and Loki was looking way too pleased with himself.

“Well aren’t you just adorable?” Loki crowed.

Steve glanced down to see…paws. He had paws. And fur. When he tried to speak, all that came out was a bark.

 

He was a dog. A very small, very fluffy dog.

 

“Well, now that you’ve been taken care of, I really should get back to work.”

And with that, Loki disappeared in another flash of light, leaving Steve in the alleyway next to his shield. What had happened to his uniform, he had no idea, but his comm was lying on the ground in front of him, useless.

 

 

Steve was alone in the alley for only a few moments, long enough to get the hang of walking with four legs and to establish that he could fit inside of his own shield, but couldn’t move it on his own.

He was startled when a brunette woman suddenly came skirting around the corner, skidding slightly.

 

“I just wanted to try a cronut!” she cried. “I just wanted to leave the tower and get a delicious baked good, but nooooo.” She shook a fist at the sky and shouted, “You will regret the day you came between me and my cronut, Loki! This I swear on the power of my taser and Thor’s thighs.”

Steve perked up as he recognized her voice. It was one of the lab assistants–the one that had come to the tower with Jane Foster. He knew her name had something do with Pride and Prejudice because she had made a joke about her and Jane being an odd pairing…Darcy! Her name was Darcy.

 

She turned around at the sound of his barking, already heading further into the alley with a concerned expression on her face. “Hey, puppy!” she cooed as she crouched down to look at him. “Are we friends or foes?” she asked as she held out her hand for him to sniff.

And Steve understood that if he was actually a dog that she was going about things the right way, but he wasn’t about to sniff a lady’s hand and give Loki the satisfaction. So he sat down in the middle of his shield, tail wagging in spite of himself, and gave a single small yip.

She shrugged. “I’ll just take that as a yes.” She reached out to scratch around his neck, which Steve had to admit felt really good, before sighing. “No collar. But you don’t look like a stray…” She put sure hands around his middle and hoisted him up, tucking him securely under one arm in a way that only reinforced how tiny Steve suddenly was.

She stopped short and stared down at his shield. “That does not look like the trashcan lid I was hoping for,” she muttered as she grabbed one of the arm straps on the inside of the shield and flipped it over, the iconic design leaving no question as to what it was.

 

She glanced between Steve and the shield a few times and then bent over to pick up his comm where it had fallen, blowing on it quickly to clean it off before sticking it in her ear.

“Yo, Avengers, I believe Steve may have been turned into a dog. A very cute dog, but also very small. Would someone like to pick up his shield from my location or should I just take all of Cap’s accoutrements back to the tower with me?… It’s Darcy, Tin Man, your lab assistant. And if you don’t cool it with the vague threats I will put laxatives in your coffee when you least expect it.”

After a pause, during which she must have received some kind of instructions from the team, Darcy crouched back down, setting Steve back on the pavement. She plopped her messenger bag down next to him, rearranging her notebooks and wallet to create a flat surface on the bottom before reaching over to pick him up again.

 

When Steve realized what she was planning to do, he started struggling in her hands. Why couldn’t he just walk? Why did he have to get carted around in a purse like some kind of helpless pomeranian?

Darcy set him back down and rolled her eyes. “Dude. I realize you find this unpleasant, but there are leash laws in New York and also flying alien crow things and I do not need to worry about one of them snatching up Cap on the way back to the tower. I have to carry you and your giant frisbee and the shield isn’t going to fit in my bag. So stop being difficult and get in.”


	2. Chapter 2

The battle had ended hours earlier, and an uncooperative Loki was being escorted back to Asgard, and Steve was still a puppy.

 

A little blonde puppy in a Captain America themed coat.

 

A puppy that only Darcy could take care of apparently, because Clint was the only other person in the tower who had ever had one before and he was off at the farm with Wanda for some R&R.

 

Tony had immediately zipped off, muttering at a mile a minute about how Pepper was totally allergic to dogs (A LIE) and that he was allergic to dogs (possibly true) and he didn’t like to be handed things, even Puppy Steve in his ridiculous coat (probably true).

 

Banner was still a little green around the edges after spending all day as the Hulk, and per protocol, would be spending the night in his apartment undisturbed with some tea and soothing music and a book.

 

Thor had “escorted” Loki back to Asgard, and so was unavailable.

 

Vision was probably capable, if Darcy was being rational, but still probably not the wisest choice to take the dog for walks to the park amongst the general public.

 

Natasha had simply looked down at Puppy Steve, and then up at Darcy and said, “No.”

Darcy wasn’t going to argue with her.

  


Darcy looked down at the forlorn little ball of fur on the floor at her feet and sighed. “I don’t know what their problem is. You’re adorable.”

_Yip!_

“You’re very welcome.”

_Yip! Yip!_

“Steve, I have no idea what you’re actually trying to say. But I suspect you need to go for a walk.” Darcy started towards her apartment, calling back, “Follow me, Puppy Steve! We need to improvise a leash.”

She heard a little discontented growl come from behind her, followed by the comically heavy sound of Steve’s oversized puppy feet as he padded along the hallway.

  
  
***

 

Steve was relieved to be allowed to walk the streets of Manhattan under his own steam, and not peeking out from the pencil-and-ink scented interior of Darcy’s bag like he had earlier in the afternoon.

 

The downside was that Darcy didn’t have a leash lying around her apartment, and so had “improvised” by looping a long gauzy scarf through the straps on the back of his coat.

“We’ll find a place to get a real leash before we come back to the tower,” she had murmured as she crouched in front of him and tied the knot behind his head. “Try not to pull so hard that I can’t get the knots out later, okay?”

  


 

It was probably a good thing that Steve had already grown accustomed to having enhanced senses before being transformed into a canine. He already knew how to sort through the sounds bombarding him, although his sense of smell was certainly more sensitive than before.

He did have to adjust to being nearly color-blind again, just like before the serum.

 

Darcy had set off for Central Park at a steady pace, trusting Steve to dart around any obstacles on his own and keeping a loose hold on the leash as he trotted along at her side.

 

 

She patiently followed his lead around the park, politely turning around when he gave a whine so that he could go to the bathroom in private. After about 10 minutes of nosing about in the grass, his head darting up every so often to track the movements of squirrels and birds up in the trees, he found his attention suddenly caught by a stray stick a foot or so to his right. He had lunged forward and grabbed it between his teeth before he could even register the impulse.

 

The logical, human part of Steve’s brain was rebelling. He should not have a stick that had _come from the ground_ in his mouth. It was unsanitary. And embarrassing.

The dog part of his brain was apparently very attached to the stick, and did not want to drop it.

 

“You wanna play fetch or something?” Darcy asked from above him.

He whined.

She shrugged. “Nobody but me ever has to know. Plus I’m worried you’re gonna develop some kind of neuroses if you keep fighting your instincts.”

Steve sighed internally and walked forward to drop the stick onto her feet.

“Alrighty then,” she muttered as she untied the scarf from his harness. “I don’t have a great throwing arm, so it’s probably a good thing you have short little legs.”

_Yip!_

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Steve; it’s because you’re a puppy. I’m sure if you were allowed to mature into a fully grown golden retriever that you would be statuesque and very handsome.”

Steve whined. He didn’t want to think about being stuck like this for that long.

“Don’t worry. From what Thor’s told me, Loki doesn’t have that kind of attention span.” She straightened up, the stick in her right hand, and got into a decent throwing stance before glancing down at Steve. “Ready?”

  
  
  
  


By the time Darcy and Steve wrapped up their game of fetch, he felt the pleasant burn of exertion in his legs and lungs, and sat still so that Darcy could reattach her scarf to his harness for the walk home.

 

They had made it six blocks from the park when a gravelly male voice called out something unspeakably crude to Darcy, who stiffened just enough for Steve to feel the pressure on his harness from the makeshift leash.

Steve lunged in the direction of the voice, barking up a storm, incensed and insulted on Darcy’s behalf.

He made it no more than two feet in the right direction before Darcy scooped him up off the sidewalk, making frantic shhh-ing noises. “Steve, stop it. You’re only going to make it worse, cut it out.”

He whined, still struggling to get loose and tear after the guy.

“Steve, please.”

There was something off in the pitch of Darcy’s voice, a tightness, that caught his attention. He stopped barking, settling for a final questioning whine before he slumped into her hold.

“Thank you,” she murmured as she scratched him behind the ears. “I know you mean well, but they only get worse if you react. And I really can’t afford to have you bite someone who might press charges.”

He whined again, sensing that she was more upset than she was letting on, and also feeling guilty for making it worse. He wriggled around until he could press his nose against her neck in silent apology.

  
  
  
  


Darcy made burgers for both of them for dinner, Steve’s patty cut up into bite-sized pieces and put on a plate.

She lifted him onto the table so he could eat with her, shrugging as she admitted, “At least this way it’s weird for both of us.”

_Yip!_

“Maybe you’ll change back at the stroke of midnight,” Darcy suggested.

_Yip!_

“Or sunrise, I suppose.”

_Yip!_

“I’m giving you a bath after dinner.”

_Growl._

“You have muddy paws, Steve. It’s bad enough that your grubby little feet are on my kitchen table. I’m not letting you on the couch or the bed like that.”

  
_Growl._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> photosets for this chapter can be found [here](https://pepperpottsblogs.tumblr.com/post/148425753880/darcy-lewis-emergency-petsitter-by) and also [here](https://pepperpottsblogs.tumblr.com/post/148454413765/shieldshockfanfic-shieldshock-image-set-from) on tumblr!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve's first night as a puppy, and the next morning.

“If you shake and get water all over me, there will be consequences,” Darcy warned Steve as she turned off the faucet and reached for a towel to dry him off.

_ Yip! _

“While I’m impressed that you managed to convey disdain in your current form, I’m not taking it back.” She started scrubbing the towel over his wet fur, wrapping it around him and lifting him out of the kitchen sink. 

“Now, in my experience, actual dogs fall into two camps around hair dryers,” Darcy opined as she started walking towards the bathroom. “They either decide it’s a scary roaring monster and try to eat it, or they like the feeling of it and fall over like they’re getting a spa treatment. I’m assuming that I don’t need to give the ‘it’s for your own good’ speech right now, yes?”

_ Yip! _

Darcy set Steve down on the bathroom counter and pulled her hair dryer out from under the sink, plugging it in quickly. 

Steve had wiggled his way out of the towel cocoon and was watching her hands patiently.

“You ready?”

_ Yip! _

Darcy flicked on the hairdryer, double-checking the heat setting to make sure it wasn’t too high, before flicking her wrist to redirect the stream of air right across Steve’s back. After a few moments, he flopped over onto his side, relaxed.

“Are you actually enjoying this or are you just making fun of me?” Darcy asked as she swept the dryer up and down his side.

A quiet  _ yip _ was her only answer.

“Okay, then. Enjoy your spa treatment,” Darcy said. “But if you could roll over at some point so I can dry your other half, that would be aces.”

  
  


***

 

Steve was cold.

 

Darcy clearly subscribed to the “cold room and lots of blankets” theory for a good night’s sleep, but despite the extra layer of fur that his current form had gifted him with, laying on top of Darcy’s bed without blankets was not comfortable. He had tried curling up into a tiny ball, not unlike his strategy for winter nights in Brooklyn from before, but he was still too cold. 

Steve knew better than to fall asleep cold, had learned that lesson in his first week out of the ice.

 

He didn’t realize he was whimpering until Darcy poked her head out from under the pile of blankets to groggily blink at him. “Whatsamatter, pup? You cold?”

_ Yip! _

She sighed and struggled to sit up, reaching forward to drag him up the bed and plop him down next to her shoulders, surrounded by pillows and blankets and her own body heat. “You can get under the blankets if you want,” she murmured as she shimmied back down until her head was barely peeking out from under the comforter. “Jus’ don’t lay down on my face please.”

Steve settled down, chin on his paws, and watched as Darcy slipped back into sleep within a matter of moments, hair wild and jaw slack. A few moments later he edged forward, closer to her warmth, and closed his eyes.

  
  
***

 

Darcy blinked awake in the morning half-expecting to find a human Steve Rogers sprawled across her bed. What she had instead was Puppy Steve curled up against her stomach, warm and twitching ever so slightly in his sleep.

She settled back in, content to stay put until her alarm went off.

 

Which turned out to be ten minutes later, just long enough for it to startle Darcy, who in turn startled Steve, who shot up like a rocket, barking at nothing in the darkness under the blankets until Darcy tugged his wriggling little body out and fixed him with an unamused stare.

“No more barking until coffee.  _ Capisce _ ?” 

Steve blinked at her in silence.

“Good boy.”

  
  
  
  
  


Someone had left a very nice leather leash on Darcy’s kitchen table along with a matching collar, complete with all the proper ID tags in case Darcy was stopped with Steve for any reason when they went on their walks.

Somebody else had managed to stick a tupperware container full of steaks in her refrigerator.

 

“Looks like Natasha and Tony stopped by.”

_ Yip! _

“Because only Natasha would think to get you a fake registration tag, and I know she knows a leather craftsman who probably made these,” she explained as she showed Steve the leash and collar, “and only Tony would think that a puppy needs porterhouse steaks.”

_ Yip! _

“These things are like, $15 a pound or something.” Darcy pulled one out of the container and tossed it into a hot skillet. “And they’re huge, so we’re sharing.”

Her phone pinged from its spot on the counter, so Darcy walked over and read the message on the screen before sighing and slumping onto the counter.

_ Yip! _ Steve butted his head against her ankles, whining quietly.

“Vision wanted to warn me not to let you chew on the bones,” Darcy said. “And not to let you eat the entire steak by yourself, and he also sent what appears to be a list of all the poisonous plants in Central Park that could kill you.”

_ Yip! _

“I know you aren’t going to run around the park eating random vegetation, Steve, but clearly Vis doesn’t. Vis has never even seen a dog in real life.”

_ Yip! _

Darcy flipped over the steak and pulled a plate out of the cabinet before turning around to look at him. “Until yesterday, of course, you’re absolutely right.”

  
_ Yip! _

"Don't gloat, Steve, it's unbecoming in a gentleman."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to link the photosets in Chapter 2, so those have been added if you'd like to click back, and there's [a new one for Chapter 3!](https://pepperpottsblogs.tumblr.com/post/148615963030/darcy-lewis-emergency-petsitter-chapter-3-by)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Take Your Human-Puppy to Work Day!

Darcy took Steve for a walk right after breakfast, in the leash and collar Natasha had left for him, before they both returned to the tower so that Darcy could go to work in the lab.

 

“Darcy, please tell me that you did not liberate the residents of yet another pet store during the battle yesterday,” Jane groaned. “I know you still worry about whatever became of poor Barkley-"

“Baker,” Darcy corrected.

“Regardless,” Jane plowed on, “you cannot just take puppies in the midst of combat situations and claim them as your own.”

“Not to worry, Jane, I did not take him from a pet store. I found this one in an alley.”

 

_ Yip! _

 

“It’s Steve,” Darcy explained.

“Who names their dog Steve?” Jane asked. “That’s a terrible name.”

 

_ Yip! _

 

“Well, we hope he won’t stay a dog for long,” Darcy clarified. “And it’s not such a terrible name for a human.”

Jane gaped at her, eyes darting between the puppy on the floor and Darcy’s amused smile. “Hold up. You’re telling me that  _ that _ is actually Steve. Like,” Jane held a hand high above her head, “about yeah tall, blue eyes, occasionally goes by Captain America.  _ That _ Steve.”

“The very same, yes.”

“How?”

 

_ Yip! _

 

“Loki,” Darcy translated. “He was cornered by Loki.”

 

_ Yip! _

 

“Just because I wasn’t actually there to see it doesn’t mean I don’t know what happened, Steve,” Darcy retorted. “It’s not that hard to put together one and one and get ‘cornered by Loki in alley, turned into a puppy by Asgardian fairy dust.’”

“You’re talking to him,” Jane sighed, before reconsidering. “Of course you are. You talk to the toaster. You talk to the spectrometer.”

“Yeah, but they never answer. Steve actually talks back. In a manner of speaking—barking, really.”

 

_ Yip! _

 

“Okay. I take it the dog is staying with you?”

 

_ Yip! _

 

Darcy glanced down at Steve for a moment before explaining, “I think he’s taking issue with being referred to as ‘dog’ and would like you to refer to him by name or gender pronoun. But to actually answer your question, yes. Steve is staying with me until he zaps back to human.”

“Apologies, Steve,” Jane said to the puppy on the floor. “It’s my first experience with animal transformation in humans. I’m not really up on the proper protocol.”

 

_ Yip! _

 

“Oh my god, I’m turning into you,” Jane said with a slightly stunned glance at Darcy. 

“There are worse things,” Darcy comforted. “Look at Puppy Steve.”

 

_ Yip! _

 

“Oh, now who’s offended him,” Jane said. 

  
  


***

 

**Wanda:** what is this I hear about Steve???

**Darcy:** he’s a puppy

**Wanda:** literally or figuratively?

 

Darcy spun around in her desk chair and snapped a picture of Steve, who was batting Jane’s ball of rubber bands around the lab floor, and sent it off to Wanda.

 

**Wanda:** at least he is a cute puppy

**Wanda:** what is he doing?

**Darcy:** it kind of looks like he’s playing soccer

**Darcy:** but I think he’s trying to recreate his shield training exercises, because he keeps rebounding the ball off of an increasing number of surfaces 

**Wanda:** how long has he been like this?

**Darcy:** less than a day so far

**Wanda:** when will he turn back?

**Darcy:** not sure

**Darcy:** we were hoping for midnight or sunrise, but those have already come and gone

 

  
***  
  


 

Bruce came by Jane’s lab later in the morning, several Tupperware containers stacked in his arms that he carried over and dropped on Darcy’s desk.

 

“Hey, Doc! What’s all this?” Darcy asked as she peered at the clear sides of the containers.

“Snacks. For you and for Steve,” he said with a glance over at where the puppy had flopped over after hours of chasing the rubber band ball around the lab floor. “I figured you already had peanut butter in here, but there’s carrots and celery and apples and cheese so he gets something other than red meat.”

Darcy popped open the top container to find an array of apple slices and cubes of cheddar cheese. “Awesomesauce. Thanks, Doc!” She held out her fist for a bump, patiently waiting out Bruce’s initial reserve, confident that he would give in after a moment’s wait. 

Fist bump finally achieved, she spun around and called out, “Yo, Steve! Banner brought snacks, come over and say thank you.”

Steve clambered up from his position and ran over, tags jingling, coming to a stop at Bruce’s feet. 

 

_ Yip! _

 

Bruce glanced between the dog and Darcy, confused. 

“He said thank you.”

Jane breezed over, peeking around Darcy and grabbing an apple slice. “She keeps having conversations with the--with Steve. You get used to it.”

Bruce eyed the dog speculatively. “Does he seem to understand what you say to him?”

“Oh, yeah,” Darcy said with a dismissive gesture. “Watch.”

She grabbed an apple slice and a cheese cube and turned to face Steve. “Okay Steve, what do you want first? One bark for cheese, two barks for apple, three if you want them together.”

Steve tilted his head to one side, glancing between Darcy’s hands. 

 

_ Yip! Yip! _

 

“Excellent choice!” She tossed the apple to Steve, who caught it in his mouth and then sat back down to chew. “Do you want some peanut butter?”

 

_ Yip! _

 

Steve popped up and ran over to nose at the bottom drawer of Darcy’s desk, where she kept a jar of peanut butter for snack emergencies.

She pushed him back far enough that she could open the drawer without hitting him and asked Jane to go get a clean spoon from the lab sink.

“That is fascinating,” Bruce mumbled, watching Darcy and Steve.

“Weird,” Jane argued as she walked past him to hand Darcy the spoon, pilfering a cheese cube as she did. “Steve is a dog, and Darcy has had more conversations with him like this than when he was human.”

 

_ Yip! Yip! _

 

“It’s not like we’ve spent a ton of time in each other’s company,” Darcy explained as she spread peanut butter on an apple slice and passed it down to Steve. “Wasn’t much of an opportunity until everybody up and wandered off last night because they didn't want to be responsible for him.”

 

_ Yip! _

 

Darcy cut off Bruce’s apology before he could begin, saying, “I wouldn't have expected you to take care of him after a day as the Other Guy, and I’m not mad about spending time with an adorable puppy.”

 

_ Yip! _

 

“You’re welcome, Steve. But I wish everyone would stop acting like it's weird for me to acknowledge that there’s a person in there, and that he’s not just a regular dog.”

 

_ Yip! Yip! _

 

Darcy popped open the next Tupperware container and dropped a carrot stick into Steve’s mouth as Jane slumped on top of her to give her a hug.

“I think you’re just dealing with this a little better than the rest of us,” Bruce said. “That’s not something you need to apologize for.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **DISCLAIMER: always check to make sure foods are safe for your dog to eat, please and thank you.
> 
> *** a follow up prompted by one of my lovely readers: please make sure that any peanut butter you give to your dog is free of xylitol! A list of products containing xylitol, which causes a dangerous insulin spike in canines, can be found [here](http://www.preventivevet.com/xylitol-products-toxic-for-dogs) if you're interested.
> 
> a photoset for this chapter is [here](https://pepperpottsblogs.tumblr.com/post/149109026665/darcy-lewis-emergency-petsitter-chapter-4-by) on tumblr!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor returns from Asgard, is less helpful than he could be.

Thor returned from Asgard not long after lunch, and promptly made his way to Jane’s lab, where Steve was napping on Darcy’s desk as she edited Jane’s most recent article.

 

He lifted his head at the sound of Thor’s voice booming out a greeting, but didn’t move from his spot on Darcy’s desk, cozy on the folded sweater she had put down for him and comforted by her scent.

 

“Hey, Big Guy,” Darcy called. “Any word on how long your brother plans to keep Steve in his current form?”

“He would only say that he isn’t finished quite yet,” Thor said as he walked over. “But that it shouldn’t take too much longer.”

 

Finished? Steve raised his head and gave a questioning bark. What the hell did he mean by _finished?_

 

Thor sighed. “I’m not certain what he meant. But take heart in the knowledge that you should be back to normal soon.”

 

Not soon enough. He was getting bored. And half the time nobody could figure out what he was saying.

 

“Well the rest of our companions don’t have the benefit of Allspeak,” Thor acknowledged. “It is not truly a fair comparison.”

“Slow your roll, buddy. Are you telling me that you can actually understand what Steve is barking right now?” Darcy asked. “You can translate?”

“Yes,” Thor answered. “How have you been communicating in my absence?”

“Guesswork, mostly,” Darcy muttered.

“And the occasional ‘bark once for yes, twice for no,’” Jane added. “Darcy and Steve developed a surprisingly workable system, all things considered.”

 

It was true, Steve had to agree. Darcy wasn’t always correct in her interpretations of his barking, but it was better than he had expected.

 

Thor looked back and forth between Darcy and Puppy Steve for a moment. “Has Darcy been the one taking care of Steve since he was transformed?”

“Yes…” Darcy drawled out. “Why?”

“A wise choice,” Thor rumbled, eyes catching on Darcy’s sweater where it peeked out from under Steve’s paws.

“Yeah, I mean, I _am_ the only one who’s ever taken care of a dog before,” Darcy said as she turned back to her screen. “It made sense at the time.”

 

But Steve could tell that wasn’t quite what Thor meant.

 

“Do not worry,” Thor said as he walked back towards the lab doors. “It shouldn’t take too much longer.”

 

_Yip!_

Steve still had no idea what Thor meant by _it_ , but he had a sneaking suspicion that the man wasn’t referring to his canine form.

 

As the lab doors shut behind Thor, Darcy sighed and clucked her tongue. “I hate when he pulls the old ‘mysterious Asgardian wisdom acquired through the ages that I’m not going to share with you’ act.”

  
_Yip!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> photoset for this chapter is [here](https://pepperpottsblogs.tumblr.com/post/149882771780/darcy-lewis-emergency-petsitter-chapter-5-by) on tumblr!
> 
> Also, as I've mentioned elsewhere, my PhD coursework started up on Monday and my schedule this semester is _crazy_ so updates will be less frequent and quite possibly shorter than they were previously.


End file.
